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by yabones
1023 days ago
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To echo other commenters, it's simply because it's not needed as heavily anymore, and it's a very optimal design for the purpose. Consider what satellite imagery was like six decades ago. The CORONA program used massive and complex satellites to take photos on film reels, then jettison and recover them using parachutes and catch them on a hook from an aircraft. Yes, really. Back then, it was much more effective to send a plane over and take some images manually. Very soon after, even as early as the mid 70s, digital image processing and transmission made these obsolete with the launch of the KH-11 series. By this point, it was substantially faster, cheaper, and more reliable to use satellite imagery rather than spyplanes for general purpose surveillance. The other thing to consider is the rise of surface to air missiles and air defense systems. These greatly changed the calculus of manned surveillance flights. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CORONA_(satellite) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KH-11_KENNEN https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_U-2_incident |
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